


clark kent is always perfectly attired

by kalypsobean



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2013-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-05 04:44:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1089754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalypsobean/pseuds/kalypsobean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>when jared moves to dallas to study engineering, he finds out that it's really just a small town after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	clark kent is always perfectly attired

**Author's Note:**

  * For [brokenhighways](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenhighways/gifts).



**prologue.**

_On 23/10/2012 I attended at Beaver and Morgan Menswear._

_The store was neat and well organised, though two of the display mannequins in the window were partially undressed and the sale racks were not ordered according to size or colour. There was nobody else in the store when I arrived but it was moderately busy during my visit._

_I was greeted upon entry and approached by the salesman (male, tall, brown hair, brown eyes, black suit, pink shirt, no tie, no name tag) who identified himself as 'Jared' and said to come see him if I needed help. I asked him for suggestions for a suit for a formal occasion, being my sister's high school graduation._

_He presented me with three choices in different colours and price brackets and identified the benefits of the fabric, and showed me complementary shirts and ties. I asked to try on one of the suits._

_The fitting rooms were clean, but there were items left on the rack from a previous customer. Jared apologised and removed them, citing being left alone in the store due to sickness on the part of another staff member. Jared brought me the suit in a darker colour when I said I thought the colour didn't suit me._

_I purchased the suit and Jared completed the transaction in a timely and friendly manner._

_I attended at the store the next day to return the suit and was attended by Jim (male, medium height, medium build, grey hair, beard, suit and tie), who offered me my choice of a refund or an exchange, and completed the transaction in a polite manner. I noticed the mannequins had been properly attired since my previous visit._

_I would recommend this store to my friends but I found Jared's friendliness and openness disconcerting and would not personally return._

_\-- Service Checker 240179, Dallas, Texas_

 

**one.**

Jared was livid. He had not had the best day, and he came home to find that Chad had somehow fallen into a party without supervision and brought half the attendees back to their dorm room. After a sigh and with a fair amount of exaggeration, he slammed the door behind him and stalked to the library. At least he could count on the library to be quiet.

He suspected he had inherited his mother's tendency towards migraines, because the throbbing behind his right temple didn't go away even with the relative silence, coffee, and judicious rubbing.

"Rough time?" someone said, and across from him appeared a vision. In a rumpled polo shirt, worn denim jacket, with wire rimmed glasses and a scruffy beard ten shades darker than the flat, gelled and neatly parted hair on the top of his head, a man had appeared on the other side of his table. "Jensen Ackles, grad student extraordinaire. Can I sit here? I focus better when I'm ignoring someone."

Jared nodded, and Jensen Ackles, grad student extraordinaire, having already sat down and pulled out his books, set up an iPod and offered Jared a set of headphones.

 

The next week, since it seemed Chad took the party as a regularly scheduled elective, Jared bought a large black coffee and one of those foam cup holders. Jensen Ackles, grad student extraordinaire, said thank you. 

 

Jared almost forgot about the talking-to he'd received from his Momma's friend who'd kindly given him fifteen hours a week at his menswear store for spending money when he moved to attend UT Dallas. Apparently he'd been busted by a mystery shopper (whom he perfectly recalled and remembered as "Hot Guy with Green Eyes", because there were that many hot guys around he needed to differentiate them) for being "too friendly". Well, call-me-Jensen-please didn't seem to have a problem with it, but still.

 

**two.**

"Who's this Jensen you keep talking about?" Jared just loved talking to his Momma about boys, because she always brought it up and eventually it came back to his Momma wanting him to move in with someone and somehow acquire babies and happiness.

"He's a grad student, Momma, doing a course in Healthcare Management or something so he can open his own physio clinic. We study together."

"Uh-huh, and is he good looking?"

"Momma!" he said, slightly sharper than he should have. He'd never even seen Jensen outside the library, and it was an unspoken thing that they kept it to studying. It meant Jared actually studied, and Jensen could avoid people other than Jared. They spoke by passing notes and drawing on each other's coffee cups. Jared really wasn't sure how to explain it to his Momma. Everything was so compartmentalised; he was mostly himself with Jensen, but he always had to be on and outgoing with Chad, and at the store he was some polite person he barely recognised who knew about colours and cut and style.

"Jared? Jared! Your father's home, I need to get dinner on the table."

"Love you Momma," he said, and hung up. Maybe he should ask Jensen on a date, or at least, to study outside the library. It would mean he could tell his Momma something she wanted to hear, and it didn't exactly sound like a bad idea.

 

He wasn't prepared for Jensen to say yes.

 

**three.**

So the last time Jared was this nervous was when Alexis had asked him to prom and they'd fought over whether to colour coordinate and he'd shown up at her door with the rented limo and couldn't remember if she had gone with the blue or the violet dress. (He'd even had his Momma pick out the corsage to match either.)

Jensen was late, or Jared had come to the wrong restaurant, or Jensen wasn't coming. He paced outside, up and down the pavement, until a hand landed on his shoulder and he heard Jensen speaking. 

He didn't understand the words, though, because while it was Jensen's voice, when he turned he saw Hot-Guy-with-Green-Eyes, who apparently was Jensen with contacts and no beard. "I have to go, Chad, he called, hospital, have to go," he said, or garbled, or stuttered, and he ran.

 

Chad was not having a party in the dorm room, for once, but was more than happy to share what alcohol there was to hand in an amateur imitation of the Texas Tequila Throwdown. Jared had never heard of organic tequila before but it certainly helped, at least until the next morning. Chad thinking they were now friends for life, well, he could deal with that later. 

 

**four.**

Jared sat at his usual table at the library. It had taken the entire weekend and a surprise phone call from his sister for him to even get the courage, but as he had been avoiding giving her any information at all he had decided that it wasn't his fault and he wasn't going to let Jensen ruin his life, or change anything. After all, the only difference between him at work and him at the library was that he had to wear a suit to work, and it didn't make him look any different. Jensen, being the one with the face-hiding hair and Clark Kent glasses was the one who had to confess.

He doesn't take Jensen a coffee though.

 

Jensen sits down only a few minutes after Jared gets there, though, and did bring him a coffee. Jared would normally be very happy with two coffees, especially since the one Jensen slides across the table smells like vanilla, but he refuses to touch it on principle.

_Is Chad okay?_ appears on top of his pad a few minutes later, and Jared ignores it; he can't very well say he lied, but Jensen probably knows Chad and knows about the epic Jäger marathon that Jared had cleaned up on Sunday morning, because by now there's nobody who hasn't heard that story.

The notes keep coming though, providing a distraction and being really confusing.

_Is it me?_

_Did I do something wrong?_

_Please talk to me._

_I'm sorry._

_For whatever it is, anyway._

_Jared?_

Jared packs up his books and bails, leaving the coffee and notes behind.

 

The next week, Jensen isn't there and Jared doesn't get anything done.

 

**five.**

Jared has been distracted ever since what he now calls the Jensen Debacle. He's too proud and too scared of his Momma to let his grades fall, but he goes through everything as if he's on autopilot, and has to catch up on his lectures through the PowerPoint slides on eLearning. 

 

Sandy bitches at him for pairing a pink shirt with the black Tom Ford instead of the grey Armani, and Jared doesn't even care. "It's not like anyone comes in and says 'I want that' and points," he tells her, but she has to redo the display and complain all day. Jared finds himself praying for two o'clock just so he can get some peace and quiet. He knows that she's been annoyed ever since he turned her down, and that things aren't going well for her, but it's not enough for him to shake off her words and cut her some slack.

"You should know better, Jared, but you've been so zoned out lately," she says, and he snaps. 

He doesn't even remember what he said, but he knows it is too far as he says it and her eyes widen and start to shine. The bell over the door rings and he takes the opportunity to duck out into the store room, leaving Sandy to deal with the customer, and leaves as soon as Jeff arrives.

 

He brings her flowers the next day, but she waves him off, saying she was out of line too.

"Are they princess lilies?" she says, and squeals when he nods. "You're the best, Jared!"

He still feels hollow afterwards.

 

**six.**

_On 27/4/2013 I attended at Beaver and Morgan Menswear._

_The store was neat and well presented, though I witnessed part of a disagreement between two staff members upon entering. I was attended on by Sandy (female, short, brown hair, brown eyes, skirt and blouse, heels, pierced ears) who approached me after three minutes despite the store being quiet._

_I asked for a suit for a funeral and was shown two models, both in black. Sandy suggested matching ties and asked what colour shirt I would prefer, and whether I would also need a belt and shoes._

_Sandy prepared my selected suit and a selection of accessories in a fitting room, which was neat and recently cleaned. She was able to address my concerns about wearing the suit for an extended period of time and highlighted some features of that particular model._

_I said I would need to think about it as I was quite stressed and Sandy offered to hold the suit for me until the end of the day._

_I was happy with the service I received from Sandy but I would not recommend the store as I believe that the staff arguing presented an unprofessional image._

_\-- Service Checker 240179, Dallas, Texas_

 

**seven.**

Jeff's probably the most laid-back supervisor in the history of supervisors, a fact for which Jared is very grateful when he and Sandy are finally allowed to leave the office. Sandy's more upset that the mystery shopper had never bought his suit, even though she kept it on hold for three days; they get commissions, and Sandy's saving up to visit her grandmother over summer. Jared knows Jeff plans to give them bonuses, because his Momma told him, but he doesn't tell her; he knows her well enough that he knows she'd tell Jeff not to do it, and then Jim would get involved, and it would become a Thing. Jared's had enough of that, and besides, he's been a bit dazed since the meeting-slash-yelling.

"You're sure he had green eyes," he says. 

"Yes, Jared, if you hadn't run away you could have seen how dreamy he was. And he said his grandmother died, and he was going to her funeral, and he looked so sad."

Jared knows Jensen's grandmother had been sick; he feels bad for wondering if it was true that she died.

 

When he sees Jensen in the student union, though, it's the last thing on his mind. Jensen is laughing with a group of people and Jared feels like all the air has been pulled out of his lungs, because Jensen looks so carefree and perfect that he wonders how long it would have taken his Momma to set them up if he hadn't clued in.

Jensen waves him over, and has the decency to look shocked when Jared follows.

"You know, you could have told me," Jared says, when Jensen pushes one of his friends out of a chair to clear it for him. Instead of sitting, though, he just leans against it, making Jensen look up at him, clearly confused. "You know, your weekend job."

"Jenny, you a hooker?" one of the guys calls out, and even the surrounding people start to murmur. Jensen blushes, and Jared knows that means he's about three seconds from freaking out and hyperventilating. He decides it's best to go; he puts a hand on Jensen's shoulder, as much to steady himself as he crouches as it is to have some kind of contact with Jensen, to let Jensen know he's not mad any more.

"I'm sorry about your grandma," he says, and squeezes. Jensen touches his hand, more of a brief contact than anything meaningful, and Jared flees.

It's becoming quite a theme, and he's sick of it.

 

**nine.**

Jared finds Jensen in one of the private study rooms in the library; he locks the door behind him and puts the blinds down. He didn't bring coffee this week, or even his books.

"Who'd've thought Dallas was so small," he says, by way of greeting.

"I didn't recognise you," Jensen says. Jared is polite enough to not make a Captain Obvious remark, but he does slip Jensen's glasses off and headphones out. Jensen doesn't stop him, and for once, Jared feels like he's in control.

"Now I see you," he says, and straddles Jensen, settling on his lap. It really isn't as easy as it looks in porn, and he feels somewhat awkward and gangly, but still. Jensen makes an annoyed face, but Jared puts an end to that by leaning forward just enough that he can feel Jensen's breath on his face. "And I still wanna do this."

He lets Jensen make the first move, tipping his head back and up. Jared still has to lean forward more, but he's rewarded with Jensen's lips against his own and a few quick moments of touching until the chair tips back and Jared's head hits the wall. Jensen ends up on the floor, and he's the first one to stand, too. Jared welcomes the hand Jensen holds out, and uses it to pull himself to a more proper sitting position.

"First it's my job, now you're after my head," he jokes, but Jensen just looks at him and starts clearing up the table, putting his books and iPod away. Jared has that empty sinking feeling back, and the start of yet another headache, but he's not up to moving on his own just yet.

"Let me apologise over coffee?" Jensen says, and Jared barely nods before Jensen keeps talking. "And then we can go to my flat and do that properly, if you like."

Jared ignores the spinning as he stands; he's not sure if it's him or the world setting itself back to rights.

 

**epilogue.**

_Dear Mr Lehne,_

_Thank you for sending me the check at the Dallas location of Beaver and Morgan Menswear next week. Unfortunately I have to decline this check as my boyfriend is a consultant there and as such I would not be able to complete a check at that location without being identified._

_Can you please put a note on my file to this effect?_

_Kind regards,  
Jensen Ackles, Service Checker 240179._


End file.
